Heat close homestand versus Mavs

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Miami Heat have won four of their last five games
and will look to cap a four-game homestand on a high note Friday when they
welcome the Dallas Mavericks to AmericanAirlines Arena.

The Heat are 2-1 on this stanza with their lone loss coming against the Boston
Celtics on Saturday night. They atoned for the setback with a 118-95 drubbing
of the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

LeBron James led the Heat with 33 points. Mario Chalmers had 15 points and
Chris Bosh added 10. Dwyane Wade was the only Miami starter to play 30 minutes
against the Bucks and that opened the door for some seldom-used players.

Michael Beasley took advantage of his increased minutes. The troubled former
No. 2 pick in the draft scored 19 points in just over 19 minutes thanks to 8-
for-12 shooting.

It was an impressive performance after a disastrous loss to the Celtics where
Wade air-balled a free-throw and gave Jeff Green the opportunity to bury a 3-
pointer and win the game.

"It's been a long 48 hours in this building. We were able to respond with a
good win," said Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra.

Udonis Haslem (back) and Ray Allen (illness) both missed the Milwaukee game,
but are not listed on the injury report for Friday.

The Mavs have won two straight, including a 105-95 home victory over the
Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.

Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points apiece for the Mavs and it was
a huge 19 points for the 11-time German All-Star. He passed Jerry West for
16th on the NBA's all-time points list.

"He was obviously a little bit before my time, but I love the history of the
game," Nowitzki said. "I've watched plenty of games and watched him shoot, and
he's really the first guy to have really a pure jump shot like that. So, yeah,
he's the man. He's clutch. He's the logo."

Nowitzki is 82 points shy of Reggie Miller for 15th.

This rematch of the 2011 NBA Finals, which were won by the Mavericks, will
feature a Dallas team improving on defense. They've held the opposition to an
average of 89 points in their last two wins.

"Well, we've been tied together and our attention to detail has been good, and
we've held teams under 100,' Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said. "On the nights
when we can do that we're going to greatly increase our chances for winning."

The Heat are tied for fourth in scoring at 106.8 ppg. The team they are tied
with? The Dallas Mavericks.

Miami defeated Dallas in the 2006 NBA Finals in six games.

Miami has won four in a row against the Mavericks, who had taken the previous
14 regular-season contests.